Best Tire (Tyre) Manufacturer

Ottobon said:
Performance street tires for everyday dry use?-Falken (RT-615), no question, if you argue with this then your dumb and haven't actually done any amateur racing in the last 5 years and your only making it plainly obvious to anyone who has.
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I'd back that up (I'm a big fan of the RT215s, haven't used the RT615s yet), although the Bridgestone RE-01Rs have been rated as some of the best street tyres ever made.

If you want the best summer performance street best tyre, wet or dry, though, its hard to go past the Michelin Pilot Sports.

Ottobon said:
Barely Street Legal, Just live-able,all-out Weekend tires?-Yokohoma (A032R and A048)
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This I'd disagree with. The two Advans you've listed have a bad reputation for having weak sidewalls. They're meant to be really good on light cars (I'm talking Caterhams / Lotuses, and small FWD hot hatches like Civics and Integras) but on heavier cars they're not so good.

I've tracked on Advan A032Rs, Bridgestone RE55S, Falken Azenis RS-V04, Dunlop D02Gs and Toyo R888's and of all those my favourites have been the Dunlop D02G's. They haven't been the grippiest in the dry (the RS-V04s were a hillclimb compound so they stuck like glue) but they were the most consistent performer vs wear. I couldn't afford to continue using them so I'm on RE55S now, but they are noticably better than the R888s and the A032Rs were so rubbish on my car I threw them out before I wore them out.

By the same token, my mechanic campaigns Civics in a State-level motorsport series on A032Rs and, even though they're using a 1.6L engine in a 2.0L class, they still came 1-2 in last year's championship.

Ottobon said:
DOT Approved Race Tires?
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What's the difference between your DOT Approved race tires, and your "weekend tires"? People use those Advans in motorsport where the rules require a street legal tire. Can you provide an example of the Kumhos or Hoosiers you're referring to?


The other thing to note is that tires will perform differently on different cars. What's good on one car is not necessarily good on another. The way the suspension is set up controls how the tyre maintains contact with the surface, which can bring certain tires to the fore on that specific vehicle. A lot of the big OEMs pick their tire when engineering the suspension to "optimise" it.
 
darkday2 said:
As far as I know the RT-615 isn't all that great in the rain but it really grips in the dry and has stiff sidewalls.
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I've driven on RT215s (the predecessor to the RT615s) on two different cars and they're not that bad in the wet.....as long as the tyres are not too worn.

When they're newish (i.e. you've worn all the slippery tire shine off) they're actually excellent in the wet. The grooves to evacuate water properly, and since the compound is so soft you get a lot of mechanical grip.

Its not until you get near the wear indicators, and the compound has heat cycled a bit, that the car gets a bit skatey. Even then, you just need to be aware of it and drive a little slower.

darkday2 said:
The downside to this tire is if you track and see high temperatures they will get greasy.
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Lower your tire pressures then. The RT615s reinforced sidewalls means you don't need to run high pressures to stop it from flexing.

I've seen people run higher-than-placard pressures in RT215s (since that's the general consensus for regular street tires) and destroy them. I ran them about 3-4psi lower than placard and got good life out of them.
 
AiR said:
Of course I do not consider any winter tire without studs to be very good, although there are some who are better than others. Continental ContiWinterViking for example does grip pretty good on snow and asfalt. Gets tricky when you encounter ice though.
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In some parts of the world it is illegal to have studded tires, and we have to make do with the best we can get.

I just got Dunlops (WinterSport 3D's) and couldn't be happier with them for winter driving, compared to the Pirelli (PZero's) I was using last year they are a much better winter tire :p

Though, I swear, the year I get dedicated winter tires is the year that there is no snow... We had only 1 inch so far and that melted already...
 
scathing said:
What's the difference between your DOT Approved race tires, and your "weekend tires"? People use those Advans in motorsport where the rules require a street legal tire. Can you provide an example of the Kumhos or Hoosiers you're referring to?
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I'm assuming he's referring to the slicks with two grooves carved in them to become DOT approved.
Hoosier A6/R6
ho_a6_ci2_l.jpg


Kumho Ecsta V710
ku_ecsta_v710_ci2_l.jpg


I've driven my 710s on the street on the way home from an event, but they really aren't intended for street use at all.
 
In the top 3rd of tyre manufacturers its of course Yokohama
 
Michelin FTW
 
scathing said:
I can't believe those two tires are street legal. How are those thin strips meant to evacuate water?
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They aren't really, the grooves are just for DOT compliance. They are intended for track use only in classes that require DOT legal tires.

The only reason I've driven them on the street was because it I was exhausted from being in the sun all day long and didn't have the energy to change them before driving home (about 20 mi away on a nice dry day).
 
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